St. Luke’s $10,000 Weight Loss Challenge – It’s All About Perspective

You can try to tell me different, but I'm convinced the same people who make the mirrors for so-called Fun Houses in amusement parks are the same ones who make the mirrors in dressing rooms, especially in swimsuit dressing rooms. In fact, I've just started ordering swimsuits from catalogs so I can try on a suit in the privacy of my own home...in a dimly-lit room...after having gone for a nice long walk or run.

But I also think that the Fun House mirror image may be what I see in my mind's eye, not necessarily what others see in me. This point came home to me this week when I got an e-mail from someone who had seen me do a presentation. She commented on how fit I looked. In my fun house mirror mind, I saw all of my flaws (the extra jiggle, the cellulite bumps on the back of my arms, etc.). She saw someone who's been working out almost daily and making good dietary choices, except for the occasional scheduled cheat day, for about 3 months now.

It's all about perspective. Maybe it's time to step back from our mirror and see what others see in us. Maybe instead of us highlighting our flaws, we talk to people who love us and see what they see in us. And instead of discounting their complements of how our bodies have changed because THEY'VE started to notice the results of our hard work -- tell them, "Thanks, I appreciate your words. They mean a lot to me." And then, see THAT image in your mind's eye -- not the Fun House mirror.